Berlin, Sir Isaiah

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Berlin, Sir Isaiah (1909–97) British philosopher and historian of ideas, b. Latvia. Berlin and A. J. Ayer introduced logical positivism into British philosophy. He was a staunch defender of pluralism and liberalism. Two Concepts of Liberty was his influential, inaugural lecture as Chichele professor (1957–67) of social and political theory, Oxford. Berlin's essay on Tolstoy, The Hedgehog and the Fox (1953), is a classic historical study.

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